11 months

Ok so I know I'm a little late on this post, but I've been going 90 to nothing lately. I've been going to a May mini term class for 5 hours every.single.day for the past 3 weeks and we've had homework every day and tests every Thursday. This Thursday will be the final and the class will be over. Pretty cool to get a semester worth of knowledge in just 3 short weeks!

Anyways, I figured I better get this post on here soon because one week from tomorrow my baby will be 1!! And I don't want to skip it because this is a way I can archive and look back and see what he was doing at 11 months.

A few of his accomplishments this month include:
* going up and down the stairs (we don't use a gate anymore)
* drinking from a straw...he loves juice boxes
* almost completely on milk instead of formula
* dancing!!....omg....this is the funniest thing and I hope to post a video of it soon
* sleeping through the night for the most part. He has done so well this month and on the nights he's woken up it's only been once so I feel like a new woman these days (*better keep my fingers crossed on this one*)
* saying mama and dada

Here are his 11 month pics....

 Playing peek-a-boo...

I will tell you a lot more exciting stuff on his 1 year post. I can't believe he will be 1! Where has the time gone? You are getting cuter and funnier by the second!! I love you Carter boy!!

A little bit of everything...(and Easter)

WARNING: This is an extremely long post!!

I have been blogging like once a month lately hoping that life is going to slow down any minute so I can catch up. Well this past week reality set in and I realized LIFE IS NEVER GOING TO SLOW DOWN. I have been going full blast with school assignments, house stuff, weddings, showers, birthday parties, holidays, family reunions, and the gym/working out. Yes!! that's right I said GYM. We joined the Y 2 weeks ago and I'm proud to announce that I am officially a member of a gym for the first time ever in my life. I have enjoyed going to spin classes and step/workout classes for the first time. I have lost 0 pounds so far but my body is looking way more toned.

Here are some other things that are going on around here and definitely getting in the way of my blogging...

1.) I  have finals this week (yes, I should be studying) so that has me busy enough.

2.) Carter has surgery on Friday and I am a nervous wreck about it!!

3.) I started cleaning my aunt's house once a week, which takes about 3.5 hours. She has a really big house, but I'm working on blinds, ceiling fans and baseboards and it is hard stuff!! I need the money though and everyone who knows me knows I'm a germ/clean freak so it is something I enjoy doing.

4.) I have had weddings and baby showers taking up my weekends lately. And if I'm not at one of those I'm trying to spend some time with my kiddos in our new and improved backyard. Jeremy built us a fence and we finally got a net for our trampoline so our backyard is our new "park".  We have a playhouse, swingset, trampoline and swimming pool and should be getting a sand box soon.

5.) School has been tough and on top of the classes I'm taking this semester I have been trying to work in some floater classes to get me through school a little faster. So as soon as finals are over this week, I will be starting the May mini term Monday morning and going to class 5 hours every day for the next 3 weeks straight.

6.) Carter is into everything!!! And requiring a lot more work to watch these days!! He turned 11 months old yesterday and I haven't even taken his 11 month pics yet, but I promise that post will be coming soon because there is a lot to share. He will be 1 in less than 4 weeks and I am trying to start working on his birthday party.

7.) I have been gathering stuff around my house for a huge yard sale my whole entire family is going to be having at the end of May. I have taken a lot of those things and donated them to those who lost everything in the horrible tornado last week.

Speaking of that...I can hardly watch videos or footage without pouring tears. I am so heart-broken about Tuscaloosa where I spent 4.5 years of college. My parents went to Alabama and my brother went to school and law school there. My little sister is a senior there right now and was down there and less than a half mile away from 15th street last Wednesday when the storms hit. They have let school out completely for the semester and moved graduation back to August now. I am very thankful she and all of my other friends and family are safe, but my heart breaks for those who have lost loved ones and everything they own. My little sister continues to tell me stories of friends of friends who are still missing. It's so sad!


I'm sure there are many more things I'm leaving off this list, but I'm sure you can see how busy we've been and how busy we're going to be. Life is just not going to slow down any time soon.

So I'll leave you with Easter pics and events (since that was supposed to be a post of mine last week). Ugh! We dyed Easter eggs with cousins, had 2 Easter egg hunts with mine and Jeremy's families, Easter bunny came, and then I tried to get some pics of my kids in their Easter outfits, but it was hot outside and they had already eaten lunch and were ready to change and play and I made them sit and take pics. Needless to say they weren't very enthused!

The Party

I must say that having 2 kids has really made me a much worse procrastinator than I already was. I was really up in the air about what to do for Maci Rose's birthday this year. And it was very last minute planning. Since she is in school now and we've been invited to a lot of her friends birthday parties I figured we probably should have a party for her friends too. We usually just do family (which is over 50 people) and close friends of ours.

We decided to have it at the Kids Kingdom to avoid having a million little children in our house. Well the night of her birthday party there was awful thunderstorms and tornados all over the state. We put so much time into party favors and cake, etc. that I didn't want to cancel or have to reschedule. Only about half of the people we invited came, but it made it was nice and it allowed me to be able to actually relax and talk to the people who could come. Which turned out perfect!

Holly, my neighbor, and I made cake pops! I know a lot of people have never heard of them, but they are becoming such a  big hit at birthday parties these days. It is cake on a stick (kind of like a sucker). The theme of her party was Hello Kitty. Here is what they looked like before I painted their faces. Holly made the actual pops and did most of the work. I just painted their faces on them. Thanks again Holly!!

 I used a bucket we had at the house and placed half of a styrofoam ball in there to stick the cake pops in. It made for a cute centerpiece.

 I also bought a small Hello Kitty cake from Sam's so she could have something to blow out the candles....

 She gave out sidewalk chalk as party favors...

Carter had a ball crawling around and banging on all the machines...

AND she enjoyed opening lots of presents....

Everything turned out great! Thanks to everyone who came and for all her presents! She is very blessed and thankful!

T...H...R...E...E

Well Maci Rose I'm really sad about this 3 thing!! You see at 2 year old you were still in diapers, sucking on a paci. You had that "baby look" and thought I hung the moon! Three is a whole different ball game! No more diapers, paci's, you've lost that baby face of yours and you actually think most things I do are either wrong or you can do it better by yourself.  (Yes, I know I'm really gonna have a breakdown at 5).

Now I would like to take a little time to brag about some of your accomplishments. Wow! Where do I begin?
1.) potty trained
2.) gave up your paci completely when Carter came along
3.) You try to do everything on you own...."I do it momma"
4.)You sleep all by yourself in your big girl bed (no it's not a toddler bed, it's a full size bed with no railing)
5.) You know all of your colors including those odd ones like tan, hazel, olive, etc.
6.) You can ride your tricycle for hours (Great Grandma brags about you to all of her friends for being able to ride a bike so well at 2 years old)
7.) You are an incredible artist and have been recognized in an art show already (details below)
8.) You love make believe play and can make up some of the funniest stories
9.) You are incredibly flexible. The teachers at your school call you "monkey" because you hang off the monkey bars and are constantly climbing/hanging/flipping on things your not supposed to.
10.) You have never had a bad report from school and I always hear about how sweet you are to the others.
11.) You have a vocabulary of over 400 words. You have been speaking sentences before you were 2.
12.) You can sing almost any nursery rhyme.
13.)You know your blessing and "I see the moon prayer".
14.) You could count from 1 to 12 at one point but for some reason now when I ask you to count it goes something like this...1, 2, 3, 4, 11, 15, 20, 100. I don't know if you've just learned higher #'s or forgotten what you used to know??

About the whole artist thing... I went to pick you up one day at school and your teacher pulled me aside and asked if I did a lot of art stuff like drawing. Ummm no?!? She showed me a picture that you drew with 4 stick figures (fingers and feet/toes included) and then said look at what the rest of the class drew, which was a bunch of scribble. She said that was very advanced for a 2 year old. The school had an art show on April 7th and your art work was displayed. I have yet to get it back from them but as soon as I do I will put it in your baby book for you to look back at one day. I have seen you draw stick figures for some time now but I had no clue that was advanced!!

You are somewhere around 26 pounds and probably close to 35 inches tall. I will know more exact #'s and %'s when we go for your 3 year old check up.

You could not be a more perfect daughter. You are so cute and sweet and you love your momma (as opposed to what everyone says about Daddy's little girl). Don't get me wrong you have your daddy wrapped around your finger but you prefer me to hold you, tuck you in, etc. these days. I thank God for giving me you every.single.day! You are my first and will always hold a very special place in my heart!! I love you so much Maci Rose!! Happy Birthday big girl!!

10 months

Carter was 10 months old on Friday. He is such a sweet little boy! I just love watching his personality develop more and more each day. He weighs somewhere around 21 pounds and he is around 30 inches long. He is exactly 5.5 pounds lighter and 5.5 inches shorter than Maci Rose.

If you ask Maci Rose who her friends are these days, the first name she says is "baby Tarter"! They play together so well and Maci Rose will hold Carter's hand and he will walk next to her. He loves it! and he thinks he is just as big as she is.

His accomplishments this month include.... standing for a little over 20 seconds by himself. He will stand by himself without even noticing but as soon as he notices he starts to panic. It's funny! It's like he doesn't trust himself or his legs!

He can climb on and off the couch when Maci Rose takes the pillows off. This is one of their favorite things to do. He is also climbing our stairs. And he is really quick too. Usually by the time I get the car unloaded he is already at the top of the stairs.

He can walk and push all of his riding toys around the house.

He cut a new tooth on the bottom left hand side which makes him now have 7 teeth! 4 at the top and 3 on the bottom.

He still will eat ANYTHING! He loves raviolli, mandarin oranges, cheerios, puffs, rice, and corn and peas. He is completely off of baby food.

He can and prefers to drink out of a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

He only has a passie when he is in his crib. He will fuss just to go and get in his crib for a passie. When he is ready to get out he will take it out of his mouth. However, he does know where they are in his diaper bag and a lot of times I find him going through it and putting one in his mouth.

He loves playing peek-a-boo, clapping his hands, and giving a high five. He will also wave bye-bye.

 (Look at that hair sticking up on his head)

We still haven't heard any words out of his mouth yet. Hopefully this will come soon. Only babbles so far. Maci Rose said her first word at 9 months (ki ki for kitty), but a lot of people tell me boys are slower to talk than girls. But we havent heard a dadada, bababa, mamama, etc. sound at all yet??

The more hair he's getting, the more we think he is going to be red headed. Depending on what light he is in his hair looks different colors, but it definitely has a lot of red in it.

He is such a smiley boy and I love him to death!!! Happy 10 months Carter!! I can't believe you will be 1 in less than 2 months!